Wizards of the Coast files lawsuit against Cryptozoic (Hex)

[Antilurker77]

http://company.wizards.com/content/w...-entertainment

WotC finally decided to call out Hex's game mechanics being a copy paste of MTG. For those who aren't familliar with Hex, these are the only two differences between the two games:

-Hex has heroes with one basic ability (similar to Hearthstone)
-There's no colored mana, instead cards check the number of colored sources you have

Everything else is identical to Magic, just with slightly different names (troop instead of creature, swiftstrike instead of first strike, etc.).

What do you guys think about this? Should reskinning a game and selling it under a new name be allowed? Or should WotC not be allowed to do this?

[Faldric]

What do you guys think about this? Should reskinning a game and selling it under a new name be allowed? Or should WotC not be allowed to do this?

Dont know about hex specifically, but if its anything like this: http://vimeo.com/77989486 then I hope they sue them for all they are worth.

[Edge-]

While I'm pretty familiar with MTG, I just checked out Hex for some mechanics/specifics. It really doesn't seem much more cloney than most of the TCG's I've seen. Almost all of the ones Iv'e seen are very similar, with the differentiation's being in the details rather than the broader mechanics.

[Deleted]

While I'm pretty familiar with MTG, I just checked out Hex for some mechanics/specifics. It really doesn't seem much more cloney than most of the TCG's I've seen. Almost all of the ones Iv'e seen are very similar, with the differentiation's being in the details rather than the broader mechanics.

I think it's more a case of every single ability, card function and style is MTG exactly but with names swapped.

not alot of TCG's just brazenly copy MTG right down to the design

[Antilurker77]

While I'm pretty familiar with MTG, I just checked out Hex for some mechanics/specifics. It really doesn't seem much more cloney than most of the TCG's I've seen. Almost all of the ones Iv'e seen are very similar, with the differentiation's being in the details rather than the broader mechanics.

The game doesn't differentiate itself in it's details though, and that's where the issue comes from.

[Edge-]

The game doesn't differentiate itself in it's details though, and that's where the issue comes from.

How so? I mean, I just gave it a cursory glance and it seems to have a few elements that MTG doesn't have (that threshhold thing, for example), as well as many that it does. I'm curious as to what the specific copied elements are other than the usual "Resources are required to play cards, they have power/toughness and can attack, there are secondary affects on cards" etc., that are in literally every single TCG I've come across.

[Antilurker77]

How so? I mean, I just gave it a cursory glance and it seems to have a few elements that MTG doesn't have (that threshhold thing, for example), as well as many that it does. I'm curious as to what the specific copied elements are other than the usual "Resources are required to play cards, they have power/toughness and can attack, there are secondary affects on cards" etc., that are in literally every single TCG I've come across.

Literally everything. The two differences I listed in the OP are the only differences between the two games. I'm not exaggerating when I say the two games have almost identical rulesets. It's so close that any Magic judge would be able to answer deep rules questions about Hex accurately without having any experience with Hex.

[RoKPaNda]

How so? I mean, I just gave it a cursory glance and it seems to have a few elements that MTG doesn't have (that threshhold thing, for example), as well as many that it does. I'm curious as to what the specific copied elements are other than the usual "Resources are required to play cards, they have power/toughness and can attack, there are secondary affects on cards" etc., that are in literally every single TCG I've come across.

I think it's just the closest thing to MTG as far as other TCG/CCGs go. It is amazingly similar, even the art style on the cards is very similar - Which is an area where most other similar games differ greatly.

[Halicia]

I think it's more a case of every single ability, card function and style is MTG exactly but with names swapped.

not alot of TCG's just brazenly copy MTG right down to the design

that is 100% legal though.

game mechanics are generally not subject to copyright protection. the words, places, and characters though... would fall under the realm of protected IP.

If I remember right, WoTC got a fluke by being able to lay claim to the 'tapping' mechanic though, but I'm not sure how broad the strokes are.

For an example, you can make an exact replica of monopoly, but so long as you rename everything and change the art, you're on the up and up.

[corebit]

The full complaint is here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/224144304/...tainment-et-al

After spending some time reading it and the facts presented, I have to say I may side with WoTC on this one. People usually like to go against the "big bad sueing company", but those listed cards are basically identical except for the names and description text. This goes beyond mere similarity between Trading Card Games.

[barackopala]

I think it's more a case of every single ability, card function and style is MTG exactly but with names swapped.

not alot of TCG's just brazenly copy MTG right down to the design

I remember certain classes taken from Dungeons and dragons for most mmo's... i remember getting the cover mechanic with regenerating health in shooters... yup...

[chazus]

Hex... is almost entirely different. Unless they're sueing on grounds of "Cards with monsters using color based resource"... its pretty much a completely different game, from what I've seen in the past.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

While I'm pretty familiar with MTG, I just checked out Hex for some mechanics/specifics. It really doesn't seem much more cloney than most of the TCG's I've seen. Almost all of the ones Iv'e seen are very similar, with the differentiation's being in the details rather than the broader mechanics.

I'd have to say this, though if what Fiend say's is true...

I think it's more a case of every single ability, card function and style is MTG exactly but with names swapped.

not alot of TCG's just brazenly copy MTG right down to the design

Then yes, they could be sued.

Hex... is almost entirely different. Unless they're sueing on grounds of "Cards with monsters using color based resource"... its pretty much a completely different game, from what I've seen in the past.

Perhaps they are just seeking SOME money to make up this year. Not uncommon for companies (ie, Zenimax) to sue other companies (Occulus) just to try to get some money out of a settlement by saying something unique to their idea is copyrighted ("Our employee imagined the Occulus first, so we own it"), in this case the color based magic.

[Spraxle]

Yeah... every single 'TCG' type game plays like Magic in some way or another. Hell the WoW TCG was Magic but with WoW names and a different way of casting stuff.

Wizards probably just wants to rein in the online 'tcg' market since Blizzard has thrown their hat in. They don't want competition to MtG: Online.

[Antilurker77]

Yeah... every single 'TCG' type game plays like Magic in some way or another. Hell the WoW TCG was Magic but with WoW names and a different way of casting stuff.

Wizards probably just wants to rein in the online 'tcg' market since Blizzard has thrown their hat in. They don't want competition to MtG: Online.

Once again, I want to emphasize that the two games aren't just similar, they're nearly identical. Almost a complete copy+paste. No other TCG copies so much stuff from MTG.

[Emidizzle]

Free publicity for Hex. Just like Hex shares many features as MTG, World of Warcraft does the same to earlier games like Everquest.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Free publicity for Hex. Just like Hex shares many features as MTG, World of Warcraft does the same to earlier games like Everquest.

Oh no bud; EQ and WoW have absolutely NOTHING in common. Ziltch. Zero. NONE.

[Nihsnek]

The sad thing is...the HEX devs are big fans of MT:G. I backed them in the Kickstarter phase and they said were they were getting inspiration from...

[Maconi]

After I saw the Kickstarter for Hex I decided I'd never touch it. They were asking for ridiculous amounts of money for deck packs and etc. Magic gets away with their prices because they were basically THE CCG/TCG for a long time and have a huge/loyal fanbase. I don't know why a new startup making DIGITAL cards (no worries with printing cards/packing or organizing events and etc.) feel like they can demand such a premium.

Although I will admit this lawsuits rides a dangerous line. WotC have sat on their hands for FAR too long. I've been waiting a long time for a new company to do with digital CCG/TCG what they did with physical CCG/TCG.

[corebit]

The sad thing is...the HEX devs are big fans of MT:G. I backed them in the Kickstarter phase and they said were they were getting inspiration from...

Being big fans doesn't excuse them to nearly copy-paste the stuff. Getting inspiration from another source is fine and all, but you are supposed to put your own unique twist and flavor to it, and it has to be sufficiently different to not raise eyebrows. Read the full legal complaint I posted, they have very specific examples in the allegations.